Chương 12: Chapter 12 The Park
"Come on, Murphy!" I called out. "Time for our walk!"
Murphy bolted to the entrance of the apartment and sat in front of me. His tail wagged uncontrollably against the floor. I laughed and clipped his leash to his red collar. I grabbed my wallet, keys, phone, doggy bags for Murphy, and put my gun on the back of my pants underneath my black trench coat, because I never know when I might need it.
Murphy and I exited the apartment building and walked down the street to the park. Murphy and I stood at the corner of the park closest to my apartment building to wait for Lance. I pulled out my phone, texting him where Murphy and I were waiting. It was a few minutes before the time we planned to meet so I was okay with waiting for him to show up.
And not a second later I heard, "Ana!"
I turned and saw Lance making his way to me, he wore his usual green flannel jacket with faux fur inside over a button up shirt with a pair of blue jeans and Timberlands. Ever since college he had worn basically the same outfit. But I still loved him.
"Lancelot!" I called out. I ran up to him and wrapped my arms around his shoulders. He in return wrapped his arms around my waist.
As we were hugging, Murphy started to jump on Lance. He let go of me and knelt down to scratch underneath Murphy's chin.
"Heya, Murph. How ya been, good boy?" Lance cooed. Murphy licked Lance's palm in response.
"Why don't we start walking?" I asked. "Pretty sure Murph's been waiting to poop."
Lance held out his right arm for me. I placed my left hand in the crook of his elbow as we walked.
"How's the wedding planning going?" I asked.
Lance shook his head. "I proposed five months ago, and I swear, he's planned everything but the date and our suits since then."
"That's why EG says he's eloping," I laughed.
"EG has to actually stop working and start dating before he has the chance to elope."
"Let the man get his dream career then let him worry about dating. We all know how much he wants a job in the DA office."
"So now that you've got the career you've dreamed of, are you going to start dating?"
"What makes you think I haven't already?" I asked.
"Have you? Some sexy detective? Or some hot cop?"
"All the detectives I work with are either married or weirdos. And male cops don't want to date a female detective. All because I'm superior to them which means that I have power over them. Guys don't like not being in control."
"Screw men. If they don't like a powerful woman, that's their problem. But you didn't answer my question, have you been dating?"
"I've gone on one date."
"Good for you, Sis. Any chance of a second?"
"I don't know, Lance. He's been contacting me daily, he always wants to know how I am doing. He always makes me feel attractive. And he's really attractive, Lance. And I mean everything about him is attractive."
"Sounds too perfect, Ana. There has to be something wrong with him if he sounds that perfect. No one is that perfect."
I knew he wasn't perfect. If I told Lance that, he would question it. I can't tell him that he's a mafia boss. My brother could get in trouble with Bangtan, and I won't let that happen. I can't let that happen to anyone in my family.
"So does this quote-unquote perfect man have a name?" Lance asked.
"Yeah. But it doesn't really matter. He might not stick around," I said. I half hoped that RM would be done with me soon and move onto a new woman. The other half of me loved that a man as handsome as him would pay attention to me and would give me the love he would.
"Do you like him?"
"That's a complicated answer."
"Like our family complicated or rocket science complicated?" Lance asked.
"Like work complicated."
"Of course. You relate how complicated it is with work because you can't talk about your work. And you can't talk about how complicated your answer is."
"Don't pull that therapist stuff out on me."
"I just want to know if there's a name I can look up online."
"Namjoon."
"Namjoon? That sounds foreign. What nationality is he?"
"Korean."
"I didn't know you like Asian guys."
"I didn't either, until he came into my life."
"Does Namjoon have a last name."
"We haven't gotten that far."
"How'd you meet?"
What was I supposed to say? I couldn't tell him the truth about how I met him. I had to direct the conversation somewhere else.
"Let's go back to talking about your wedding. What color dress do I have to buy?"
"Maroon. And let's talk about how you met the guy."
"I told you, Lance. I don't know how it's this is going to turn out. It probably won't matter in two weeks when I find out that he only wants me for my body."
"You wouldn't want you for your body? Your hot, Ana. It adds to your great personality and your smarts. I'm sure he'll stick around for two weeks. And when that time comes, you'll tell me."
"Sure thing, Lance." I rolled my eyes and looked off in the distance where some kids were kicking a soccer ball back and forth.
"Murphy's pooping," Lance said as he looked down at my dog. I took my hand from his arm and grabbed a doggy bag. I bent over to pick up the excrement. "By the way, how did you teach him to use a litter box?"
"It's not a litter box! It's an artificial patch of grass on a tray that he uses. It's just like puppy pads he goes straight to whenever he needs to." I stood up and threw the doggy bag in the closest trashcan.
"I kind of miss when you were a cop and worked double shifts. And I would puppy-sit Murphy. And it would just be us two. No fiancé to worry about, just me and Murph."
"Maybe you should get a dog. Do you think he'll like a dog as a wedding gift?"
"I would love a dog, but my apartment doesn't allow dogs. When we move into a new apartment then I'll get a dog. Is it like having a kid?"
"Kind of. Why? Have you guys talked about adopting?"
"It came up briefly when we had dinner with his parents and Dad. Dad can expect grandkids from you and EG. But he's an only child, so his parents are worried about grandkids. He's not sure he wants to adopt yet or not."
"You guys don't have to worry about that. Don't stress yourself out about it."
"I'm not going to. I'm just stressed about the wedding. Dad keeps asking when the day is going to be."
"Well if it makes you feel better, I'll buy a dress for the wedding to show dad."
"Oh thanks. That'll fix everything," Lance said his voice laced with sarcasm.
"It'll buy you some time."
"I guess that's true. We're heading back to your apartment now, right?"
"Yeah. Then we'll order a pizza and watch a Disney movie."
"Sweet! I can't wait."
I smiled as I looked in the direction of my apartment. But before my eyes could reach over there, at the edge of the park slightly to my right, I noticed him. Sitting on a bench next to the sidewalk on the edge of the park, was Namjoon. He had his blank gaze set on me.
What was he doing here? Why was he just looking at me? I watched as he raised his eyebrow at me with his tongue poking the inside of his cheek. I watched as he jerked his head, in a 'come here' motion. I sighed turning to my brother.
"Hey, Lance why don't you take Murphy and go back to my apartment?"
"Why? What's going on?"
"Work," I said shortly.
Lance sighed before he held his hand out for Murphy's leash. He knew I couldn't talk about work and he couldn't listen to work either, so he had to go on without me. I handed the leash to him and watched him walk away with Murphy trailing behind him.
Once he was far enough away, I walked over to Namjoon. He smirked at me with his arm on the back of the bench and his left ankle rested on his knee.
"Well hello, Little Detective," Namjoon said as I got close.
"Please don't call me that. Not here at least. It might seem shady to eavesdroppers."
"Why don't you sit?" Namjoon asked as he gestured with his head to the space next to him.
I rolled my eyes and sat a few inches away from him. I felt his arm move to wrap around my shoulders. He gently pulled me closer to him. I could tell he was still looking at me. I kept my eyes moving around the park, so I didn't have to look at him.
"Are you following me, Namjoon?" I asked.
"No. Why would I need to follow you?" Namjoon asked. I turned to look at him with a raised eyebrow. "I have subordinates who will do that for me." He shrugged.
"Great, so some strange man has been following me around?" I asked.
"Well Jones does it while your at work. And while your at home, what do people call him - Ghost? - watches the outside of your apartment and where ever you go. He's not that kind of man to watch inside. He respects your boundaries."
"Wait a minute, Jones has been keeping an eye on me for you?"
"He'll just let me know whenever you are in trouble, that's all."
"So Ghost sees me walk my dog every night," I stated.
"Yes, and when he saw that you met up with an unknown man, he called me," Namjoon said. I noticed his fist and jaw clench in anger as he spoke.
"Wait, the reason you're here is because your partner saw me with someone he didn't recognize?" I asked.
"Yes, so tell me. Who is he?"
I let out a laugh. I folded in on myself and held onto my stomach. I couldn't help but burst into laughter. I mean, Namjoon was jealous of my brother. He didn't know Lance was my brother.
"I can't believe it! Your jealous!" I laughed. Tears started to spring up in the tears of my eyes.
"What if I am?" Namjoon snapped. "So tell me who he is, now."
"He's my brother, Lancelot," I said, as I finally stopped laughing. "He's engaged to his boyfriend."
I looked at Namjoon with a smile. He stared at me with his mouth wide open. He looked so dumb in this moment. I couldn't help but giggle. I turned to face him more directly. I brought a hand up to rest on his cheek.
"Tell me, handsome, is there any reason to be jealous?"
As I finished my question, I took my hand off Namjoon's cheek and put it back in my lap. I watched as the gears started working in his brain at what I said.
"Your damn brother. So that's one of your brothers."
"He wanted to hang out, since we haven't in a while. Have some brother-sister time. He also missed Murphy."
Namjoon turned away from me and put his head in his hands. "I feel so stupid now," he muttered.
"You should," I said. Namjoon's head snapped up to me. "Who does a background check on someone but doesn't get pictures of their family members? And especially show them to the person watching them?"
"Maybe I was distracted by a beautiful woman." Namjoon scanned my body before he raised an eyebrow at me.
"I knew there was another woman," I said sarcastically.
Namjoon leaned into my ear. He let out a breath, causing me to shiver, before he whispered, "There's only one woman for me, Ana. She's sexy, intelligent, kind, funny, and did I mention sexy?"
"Sounds like a real catch. You'll have to introduce me to her."
"I will. Just let me show you a mirror," Namjoon whispered in my ear. He brought his hand to my knee and rubbed it with his thumb. "I think you'll like her, Little Detective. I know I do."
After he was done whispering in my ear, he stayed leaning into me. I closed my eyes so I could listen better to the sound of his breathing. I unconsciously moved my head to face him. I felt Namjoon shift closer to me. I bet if anyone looked at us, they would think that we're a couple having an intimate conversation.
Once I realized what this could look like to an outside party, I opened my eyes only to find myself face-to-face with him. His nose was only a breath away from me, and our breaths mingled together. His eyes were trained on my lips. I could tell he that was hesitated before he could kiss me, that much was obvious.
Did I want him to kiss me? I didn't want to find out. So instead of waiting for him to stop hesitating, I scooted away from him and stood up. Namjoon looked at me confused when I stood up and away from him.
"Lance is probably wondering when I'm going to be getting back," I said, fixing my coat. "I should get going."
I turned to leave and began to walk away, only to have Namjoon stand up.
"Ana, wait," he called out.
I turned back to him and began to walk backwards. I still wanted to get away from him before I did something crazy. "Namjoon, I'll text you later okay?"
"Can we go out again? Another date?" Namjoon asked.
"Seriously?"
"I wouldn't joke about going on a date with you. So what do you say?"
"Let me know the details. My days off are Tuesday and Wednesday. And maybe by then you won't hesitate when you want to kiss me."
I laughed at the look on his face as stared at me in disbelief.
"Maybe I was waiting for you to lean in," Namjoon called out. "I'm not going to be the only one putting in effort, Little Detective."
"It should be the man to put in effort. Don't be a coward," I called out.
"I'll text you, Little Detective. I'll let you know about the date when I have a plan."
"I'm already looking forward to it, Namjoon."
And just like that I walked back to my apartment with a smile on my face. He actually cared about me. And he got jealous. And he wanted to kiss me. Maybe I can believe he has some feelings for me.
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